EDITORIAL: Funeral escort limit a good call by CPD

Police chief takes tough stand limiting processions to eight vehicles

Clarksville Police this week announced a new rule that's already being met with an outcry of public anger, but it is absolutely in the best interests of the city.

CPD is setting new limits for police-escorted funeral processions: The hearse plus six cars, and only one patrol car escort. The final car in the procession will be clearly marked that way.

Vehicle funeral processions are a quaint, Southern small-town custom. Many of our fellow drivers from up north are initially confused by our tradition of pulling over to stop as a funeral procession winds by, bypassing stop signs and traffic signals along the way.

Such a procession can be incredibly dangerous.

As a community, we're relying on some vague signals to protect the safety of all involved as a stream of sometimes 30 to 50 cars runs a long series of red lights and stop signs, with nothing but their headlights being on to signal that normal traffic rules are suspended.

The tradition has come at a price: Police Chief Al Ansley, in forecasting the policy change last month, cited a fatal wreck during a funeral procession in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and a lawsuit against the city of Chattanooga following a procession wreck.

Every death matters, and those who have died should be honored, as should every grieving family. But there have to be limits, and there have to be exceptions.

Long funeral processions with every intersection properly blocked by an on-duty officer should be reserved for public figures, elected officials, public safety officials killed in the line of duty and generally those whose passing is mourned by the entire community.

We don't fly flags at half-staff for everyone - they would be at half-staff every day - and we don't name city streets for everyone. Similarly, we can't put lives at risk by allowing miles of cars to shut down city traffic for every funeral.

The only way to pull it off safely would be to assign several officers to the half-dozen or so funerals held in Clarksville every week. The police have higher priorities - priorities people generally support, such as, say, fighting crime.

A six-car limit, plus the escort and the hearse, should keep the processions from blocking major intersections, including Madison Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, which is where the biggest danger lies. And six cars can hold 24 to 36 people, generally enough for immediate family.

That doesn't mean no one else can go to a burial - it just means a bit of a delay while normal traffic rules are followed. That, or the families can pay to have an escort provided.

It's not easy to stand on the side of what's best for the community when staring down the complex emotions that can come with grief.

We're proud of Chief Ansley for having the courage and common sense to do so.

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EDITORIAL: Funeral escort limit a good call by CPD

Clarksville Police this week announced a new rule that's already being met with an outcry of public anger, but it is absolutely in the best interests of the city.